Students will be introduced to the Chinese contribution to the building of the Transcontinental railroad through the book, “Coolies” written by Yin. Once the book has been read aloud, the class will have a discussion about the discrimination the Chinese workers faced and the difficult conditions they endured. We wll also compute the distance Shek and Wong traveled from Canton to San Francisco and discuss the route taken using the world map. After the class discussion, each student will visit a Hotlist of related websites and view historical photographs. Lastly, students will brainstorm using Inspiration and use a Word template to write a letter home to Canton(as Shek or Wong) describing their journey and experiences.
Objectives:
1. Students will effectively use computer hardware and software to enhance their understanding of the Chinese contribution to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.
2. Students will listen to the story and actively participate in a class discussion. Their participation will illustrate their comprehension of the story.
3. Students will write a letter as a character in the book. This will further illustrate their comprehension as well as their writing skills.
4. Students will understand the hardships faced by many immigrants and their contributions to our nation and culture.

1. Begin the first day of this lesson by gathering the class in a circle on the floor. Write the word, “Transcontinental Railroad” on the board and ask if anyone knows what this might mean. Break the term down to words and then segments until someone comes up with a correct or close answer. At this point, or if no one has any idea, explain what it means.

2. Pull down the Untied States map and show the class the route the railroad took across the country. Ask the class how many miles this might have been. Answers will range from 100 miles to one million miles but it gets them thinking about how large the railroad project was.

3. Now that everyone had an idea of the magnitude of the project, explain that it was mainly built by Irish and Chinese immigrants. I told them that my family was Irish and showed them Ireland in the map. Ask why they thought the Chinese might have immigrated to California. This seems like a good place to start the story.

4. Read the first half of “Coolies” making sure to stop occasionally to define words or ask comprehension questions. The book has beautiful illustrations so make sure to let the class examine each one. This section of the book details the poor pay received by the Chinese workers and the discrimination they faced. Take time to discus these ideas with the class and how they feel about them. This section also details the dangerous working conditions and harsh environments that confronted the workers. Ask the class what the Chinese workers must have been like (i.e. brave, strong, hard-working etc.) to endure all of this.

5. Once the day’s reading is finished, make sure to ask the class what they remember from the book and what parts stood out for them. This will help them focus on the overall story.

6. After the discussion, let the students take turns visiting the computer. Make sure the Coolies Hotlist is on the computer’s desktop and in working order. Explain that each student will have time to visit the websites on the Hotlist and study the historical photographs. These photographs of Chinese workers and their terrain will help the class understand that the story is based on real events and real people.

7. Day 2: Ask the class to volunteer what they remember about yesterday’s story. Once their memory’s have been jogged, read the remainder of the story. This part details the workers’ strike and their lives after building the railroad. Make sure the class understands what a strike is and ask them to compare the Chinatown of the late 1800’s with the Chinatown of today.

8. After the book ahs been finished, explain that each student will be taking on the role of Shek or Wong and writing a letter home to their parents in China. Write a few topic suggestions on the board such as, what the trip was like from Canton to San Francisco? What is America like? What was building the railroad like? What do you miss about China? The class is familiar with Inspiration so they will be using the program to brainstorm their letters. Let each student go to the computer and create a mind-map as Shek or Wong. This mind-map will provide the information for their letters home. Ask each student to print out his or her mind-map when finished.

9. Day 3: Once every student has a competed mind-map printed out they are ready to begin their letter. Each student will bring their map-map to the computer when it is their turn. The class is familiar with Microsoft Word so have them use this program to word process their letters. I have created a letter template that will simplify the process (Letter to China template). Make sure this document is open on the computer’s desktop and remind each student as they finish to use the Save As option when saving their letter.



Resources Required

	Resource	Type	Requirements	File
1.	Inspiration Mindmap	Multimedia Presentation	Hardware: Mac Software: Inspiration	Coolies_Insp.ins
2.	Coolies Hotlist	other	Hardware: Mac Software: Other Internet Connection	Coolies_Hotlist.html
3.	Letter template	other	Hardware: Mac Software: Microsoft Office	lettertemplate.doc
4.	Grading Rubric	other	Hardware: Mac Software: Microsoft Office	Rubric.doc

1 hour a day
for 3 days